The Path to Redemption
by Sentai-Rider Fan
Summary: Uther wakes up in a strange land where magic is a constant element and is not what he thinks it is, follow him as he travels on this foreign land and meet new people who he is destined to help. Will his views on magic change on this journey? Will he find redemption for all the crimes he committed and most importantly who has sent him to this strange land? Read on to find out.


**Hello everyone, this is my first Merlin fanfiction. I would very much appreciate if you would read and review this story, tell me what you think, it can be anything as long as it's not flame. I also appreciate constructive criticism so I can improve in my writing. Thank you**

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The first thing that I noticed as I woke up from my stupor was my head pounding away like a blacksmith's hammer as I groaned, I had never felt this amount of pain before in my life and believe me when I say that I've been through a lot of pain. I tried to think about what had happened before I arrived at…wherever this was. I remembered that I was out on patrol by myself, normally I would have Arthur and several knights accompanying me, after all I am the king of Camelot and I should have some protection with me. But today was different because I wanted to be alone and simply have some time to myself…I rarely find time for myself for the past several years, it has always been about defending Camelot from any threats whether internal or external, I barely even have time to contemplate the bigger things in life such as my son and my dear, sweet Ygraine…how long has it been since I last shed tears for her? Sometimes I can't believe that she is gone, holding Arthur only for a brief few second before dying, it was her death that ignited my hatred for magic and my never ending crusade for it.

When the pain abated I sat myself up and looked around for my horse, surely it would have stayed with me despite me falling off of it even though I don't remember falling off my horse, in fact there wasn't much I can remember. It seems that I am in a forest, perhaps not too far away from Camelot, as I could hear the birds chirping and the sun beating down on my head, I tried to think what could have caused me to not only fall from my horse but also to black out completely…did someone enchant me again? It wouldn't be the first time that this has happened as I cursed myself for letting my guard down as I could hear a rustle behind me as I reacted with the reflex of a warrior, my blade in my hand in an instant as I pointed it to a young girl no younger then Arthur's age with blonde hair and wearing a brown skirt and white blouse as she gasped.

"I'm sorry" she said immediately as I sighed, it was only a girl…but nonetheless it could still be one of those Druids, "I just saw you sitting there and I only wanted to make sure you're alright."

"I'm quite alright thank you" I replied as I kept my sword trained at her, "who are you and what have you done to me?"

"I'm Evelyn and I'm sorry I don't know what you mean…I just happened to pass by when I saw you on the way back home" Evelyn replied.

"Do you know who I am?" I demanded as I was quite shocked that the girl did not bow down to me if she was not a Druid, surely she would know the face of her king if she lived in one of the outlying villages? My face isn't something that most people tend to forget as Evelyn looked at me in confusion.

"Should I know who you are?" she asked as I exasperated, honestly how could she not know who I am?

"I am your king, Uther Pendragon, ruler of Camelot" I said in an annoyed tone as no sign of recognition came on Evelyn face except the expression of fear.

"I-I wouldn't say that if I were you Sir Uther" she replied, "our king doesn't like other people saying that they're…well kings" she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Your king?" I asked as I rolled back in surprise, where on earth am I? It must be the work of magic if I have been transported to another kingdom, I do hope it's a kingdom close to Camelot and friendly to Camelot…I can only hope I'm not in Bayard or Odin's kingdom as they would happily have me killed in an 'accident'.

"Yes King Cole" Evelyn replied in a whisper. Now this I was completely surprised, although it is true that I may not know every kingdom and land there is on Albion but surely I would have known their ruler's name and King Cole did not struck me as a name that I was familiar with.

"Where am I?" I asked Evelyn as she straightened her back and smiled.

"You're in Phonexia Sir Uther" she replied as my suspicions were confirmed, this was not a place I was familiar with and that meant that it was more then likely I was far away from any kind of help as I sighed…this was not going to be an easy journey back home.

"Phonexia…very well then, is there any village I can go to? I need to find some information" I said as Evelyn nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes there is, my village is not far and I was heading there, would you like to accompany me back home?" Evelyn remarked as I nodded, it was best to go with Evelyn for the time being as I really didn't have much else to go on with. The trip back to Evelyn's village was mostly one of silence, neither of us had much to talk about and whenever Evelyn tried to have me talk about where I was from and what I did for a living. But I remained tight lipped about it…I wasn't going to allow Camelot to fall under attack because it is defenceless, although I have every trust in Arthur the kingdom needed me.

We soon arrived at the village, though it was quickly becoming dark, and it was just like any other village that I have seen a hundred times as people began to stare at me, no doubt because I'm a foreigner and I must look like a complete idiot just following a girl, but I was used to this treatment from my time as an ordinary knight though in retrospect I also had the support of my fellow knights and never before had I ever been alone in a foreign village. Evelyn gestured for me to follow her as I did, noticing that the people seemed to have gone back to their routines once they realised that I was not a threat to them, before we arrived in some sort of shop as the smell of herbs and medicine wafted through the air, "This is your home?" I asked.

"Yes" Evelyn replied, "papa is the local doctor in this village, he's very wise so I'm sure he'll be able to help you with whatever you need" as I nodded. So he was like Gaius, perhaps he would be of use to me, I then saw that Evelyn's home was simple enough; the medicines and various herbs lay at the front of the house complete with a counter while her real home lay at the back which consisted of nothing more then two beds and a table and two chairs. Sometimes I do think of how cramped the houses are in the outlying villages, they aren't as nice as the houses inside the castle itself, however that is the fate of peasants unfortunately and it could not be helped as Evelyn told me to wait here as she fetched her father as I sat on one of the chairs as it creaked.

The silence of the house was deafening as there was literally nothing to do, I tried to occupy myself by thinking of what I would need in order to return back to Camelot, a map and supplies would be my top priority as well as some mode of transportation. A horse would be wonderful though I had to wonder if a village such as this had any horses available, "Enjoying yourself Uther?" a female voice asked as I turned and pulled out my sword only to face empty air, I was certain that I heard the voice of a female voice talking to me and I had a vague feeling that magic was involved.

"Come out and face me" I said quietly as my eyes became alert to my environment, watching every corner of the room in case an enemy was already here and ready to attack me as every sound seemed like a blade swishing the air, or an incantation or a dozen of many things that could easily kill me.

"Put that sword down before you cut someone's head off though really you've cut enough people's head off for one lifetime haven't you?" the female voice said as I turned to see a girl of around 15 with long blonde hair, wearing a white dress and holding a sword but what really got my attention was that she had big, white wings as my eyes nearly popped out.

"Oh…my…god" I muttered to myself as the winged human pouted.

"It's a sin to say God's name in vain" she said as I felt I had just been scolded by my mother as I shook my head.

"Who are you?" I asked as the winged human smiled.

"Take a guess" she said as I remained silent and stared at her as she pouted again, "fine‚ I'm the Archangel Gabriel, one of God's general and unfortunately for you I'm also your guardian while you're on this journey" she said as I nodded. Although I may hate magic with a passion I am also a knight and a knight serves God, therefore I can't really be expected to actually kill an angel right?

"What does God want me to do?" I asked, "To purge magic from this land?" I took a guess as Gabriel actually looked disappointed.

"That's the first thing that came to your mind?" she asked.

"That's what I've spent my life dedicating to‚ surely you would know that" I replied as Gabriel shook her head.

"It's the complete opposite‚ all the Gods are now your enemy, your crusade against magic has upset the balance of the world and now‚ you have made so many enemies that Camelot is surely doomed if you do not change your ways" Gabriel replied.

"But magic is evil" I retorted, "they took my wife from me, hundreds of sorcerers have tried to kill me or destroyed my kingdom, surely I am within my rights to retaliate."

"By killing hundreds of innocent people?" Gabriel retorted back calmly, "By slaying men, women and children who are even suspected of magic without a single thought? How many must die before you are satisfied?" Gabriel asked as her words echoed Morgana's as I shuddered at how similar they sounded, "Your grief have blinded you completely‚ hey have made you a monster, a monster that is worthy of being slain by a knight" she said a bit harshly as I was completely taken aback at this.

"No‚" I whispered to myself‚ was I wrong to do this? Was I wrong to kill those people? However I shook my head, no, I was in the right‚ this must be a magic trick, perhaps Evelyn was a witch and she was enchanting me as I pointed my blade at Gabriel, "you are not real‚ you must be the work of magic, leave now or I shall strike you down where you stand!" I shouted as Gabriel looked at me with a mixture of sadness and pity.

"Uther Pendragon,your blindness to the reality of the world will only be your downfall‚ if you continue on this path then not only will you never return to Camelot but it will be the death of you" she said as I took a step towards her.

"Return me to Camelot now" I growled as Gabriel remained unfazed.

"A great evil will soon decent upon this village, it is up to you to save them or you can simply choose to ignore the and attempt to find your own way back home though I can quite correctly guess which one you are going to choose" Gabriel said and in a single blink she was gone as I looked around for any trace of her but there were none.

At the same time Evelyn came back along with an older man wearing a brown robe, most obviously her father, as Evelyn seemed confused by why I had my sword drawn as I pointed it at her at which her face became one of fear, "What are you doing sir Uther?" she asked in a scared voice as her father held to her closely, his face also the same.

"What magic did you use?" I asked, did she conjure that 'angel' so as to confuse me? Had she been lying to my face the whole time? I had no time for games and if she knew the way back to Camelot then one way or another I will pry it from her, "Tell me now!"

"I did not use magic, I don't even know how to use magic" Evelyn said in a desperate voice as I wondered if she was lying, of course she would lie if her life was in danger, but yet I had to think...if she was a witch then wouldn't have done a better job of trying to trick me and make me confused? An angel certainly would have gotten my attention but it wouldn't exactly change my life nor would it convince me to do anything really as I realized that I may be jumping to conclusions too soon as I sheath my sword.

"My deepest apologies Evelyn, I've just been jumpy whenever magic is around" I said, "it is an evil thing and I have encountered it too many times so I apologize for this."

"I-it's is not a problem sir Uther" Evelyn said her voice laced with fear as she pointed to her father, "this is my father Robert, he can help you with what you need."

"A pleasure to meet you sir Uther" Robert said as he and I shook hands as I could feel his hand trembling, I would be in the same state of mind if I was in his situation, I had just basically threatened his daughter with death and that was something not to be taken lightly, "how can I help you?"

"Do you have any maps of the land? I must return to my own kingdom at once, if it is attacked in my absence then it would be disastrous" I said as Robert nodded as he then went and grabbed some maps before dropping them all on the table as he grabbed one of them, "this is the latest one...is this to your satisfaction?" as I looked at the map and saw that there were no harbors anywhere along the coastline.

"Is there any place where I can travel on a ship? My land is not listed here and as I said I must return there post-haste" I said as Robert frowned and returned back to his maps as he attempted to find a harbor or some other way for me to get on a ship as he shook his head.

"I am sorry sir Uther, this land rarely goes to the sea for there are many dangers surrounding it and our trade are all with land-locked nations so I cannot help you" he said as he bowed apologetically as I nodded.

"I understand" I said as I put a hand on his shoulder, "do you know where I might be able to find a ship?" I asked as Robert nodded.

"That I can help you, the Empire of Jade travel often on the waters so it is more then likely you'll find someone who will be happy to bring you back home" Robert said as I nodded and looked at his map where it indicated, at least to my calculation if I used a horse, it would take at least two weeks to even be at the borders of the Empire of Jade as I sighed...a lot of things can happen in two weeks and I truly fear what will happen to Camelot if I am not there.

"Very well then" I said, "does your village have any horses I can borrow?" I asked as Robert nodded again.

"We do have some to spare but surely you're not thinking of going now?" Robert asked, "It is nearly night, why not stay the night? My house may not be the best and is quite humble but I am happy to accommodate you for the night" he said as I had to admit that he had a point. It would be foolhardy to travel at night especially when I don't know the terrain for there could not only be the dangers of the environment but also unknown elements of danger for there could easily be dangerous beasts roaming around this land. Even I, with great swordsmanship, would be vulnerable to danger. Robert and Evelyn have been kind to me and it would be rude to decline their hospitality as I smiled.

"It would be a pleasure" I said as the back of my head chastised me for allowing myself to live in this place when there could be taverns, but I could not afford to be picky and I used to live in places like these during my times as a knight so why change now? Robert and Evelyn smiled before the night was then interrupted by a loud scream as the faces of my benefactors fell and I wasted no time in exiting to find out what the matter was.

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